This section provides the visitor with the content and background for the subjects in the petroglyphs, such as humans, animals, and plants. It also provides interpretations of complex scenes that incorporate many figures that together convey an event. The scenes mostly depict activities relating to hunting and warfare. In this section, the visitor will learn about the people who created the rock art of Saudi Arabia and their environment.
Subjects & Scenes
Examples:
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Camel
The Dromedary camel can be easily identified because of the single hump on its back. It is also the largest of all camels, having longer limbs than the Bactrian, or two-humped, camel, C. bactrianus. The Dromedary is extremely well adapted to hot, arid conditions, and is capable of surviving up to 21 days without water. Dromedaries vary in color from nearly white, to tan, to [...]
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Ibex
The ibex is similar to the wild goat in terms of the shape of its head, body, and tail. Like the goat, it has scimitar horns that curve backward in a large semi-circle, but with the addition of a series of regularly spaced transverse ridges along the outer edge of the curve. Ancient artists depicted these ridges distinctly on the more realistic panels, however, where a caprine [...]
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Striped Hyena
The hyena has a dog-like body with strong forequarters and a back that slopes down in the rear. The neck is long and powerful and the muzzle is blunt, with powerful dentition for crushing bones. This species has a pale gray or beige body with black stripes on its sides and a black and white tail. The body hair is long and shaggy, with a crest from head to tail that stands erect [...]
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Domestic Cattle
The domestic cattle depicted in Saudi rock art are similar in appearance to those shown in Egyptian art from the New Kingdom. Their horns are relatively long, lyre-shaped and more or less vertical. There is often a small bump at the shoulders most likely reflecting elongated thoracic spines, rather than a true hump like that found in Zebu cattle from India.